Exhibition - Flipbook - Seite 2
The Camphill Founders
Karl König was born in Vienna in 1902. In his youth he experienced very strongly how humanity was suffering through the First
World War and how Europe – particularly his home in the AustroHungarian Empire – was being destroyed. How could he offer a
healing impulse? At an early age he was burning with empathy
and a deep feeling of responsibility for his times. Although he
was born into a Jewish family, he was always moved by the words
of Christ: «What you have done to the least of my brethren, you
have done unto
me.» He saw the
task of healing for
the human being,
for society and for
the earth as one
whole and interconnected task.
He studied medicine in Vienna and
was then assistant
for Dr. Ita Wegman in the early
days of anthroposophic medicine
and curative education in Switzerland.
Dr. Karl König
1902–1966
Mathilde (Tilla) König
1902-1983
Tilla Maasberg arrived on the same day as Karl König in Arlesheim, Switzerland in November of 1927. She was born in Gnadenfrei, a Herrnhut community in Silesia. She was a children‘s
nurse and ran a home for children with special needs with her
sister. She was in Arlesheim to do courses in anthroposophical
medicine and nursing, where Karl König was to assist. In 1929 he
moved to Silesia, where they married and helped found a curative home in the Pilgramshain castle. Her experience in nursing,
education and householding was of great benefit for the founding of Camphill, particularly in the pioneering years with the
need also to train their young helpers.